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Some days only the flavors of rich chocolate and smooth peanut butter can soothe your troubled soul which makes these Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars the perfect cure for whatever ails you.

When I was a teenager I went through a phase where I loved making up recipes. I didn’t know what I was doing, of course.

Maybe that’s why I liked it. The process and the outcomes were always a mystery!

Combining chocolate, peanut butter and rice crispies used to be a favorite treat back then, and I had nearly forgotten about it until recently. Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars. Just saying it again makes me feel all happy inside!

Who can deny the perfect pairing of chocolate and peanut butter? That with a little bit of snap and crackling rice crispies makes for a perfect mid-day treat!

If you know any hobbits, they’re not too shabby as a second breakfast either.

I do whatever my rice crispies tell me.

I saw that on a bumper sticker once. I’m still laughing about it today.

It’s kind of funny to think that I’ve returned to the passions of my youth. I went through a period where I felt cooking was too domestic so I spent as little time as possible in the kitchen. I was making my way in the world and didn’t have time for domesticity. That meant we ended up eating out. A lot!

Then I read a book which changed my life. You may know the author, Sue Monk Kidd. Before she wrote Secret Life of Bees and other fabulous novels, she wrote a little book called The Dance of the Dissident Daughter. I had many powerful take-aways from this book but one of my favorites was understanding that feminine and masculine characteristics fall on a spectrum and that each and every one of us share in those traits, whether male or female.

What an empowering thought! Spending time in the kitchen doesn’t have to be a household, feminine chore. It can be, and is, an expression of creativity!

And a dose of creativity was definitely needed in my kitchen recently. That’s because I could remember eating these delicious rice crispy bars as a teenager, but now as an adult I couldn’t for the life of me remember how I made them.

So I know these are not the same as what I made before, but somehow I think they’re actually better.

Vegan, gluten-free, chocolate peanut butter bars.

Creativity and science combined = Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars². In other words, they’re so good you might want to double the recipe!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Crispy Bars

By Namely Marly

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 16

Ingredients

½ cup corn syrup

¼ cup sugar

¼ cup brown sugar

½ cup peanut butter

½ cup cocoa (optional)

3 cups Rice Crispy (or Rice Krispies) cereal

Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Spread

1 package vegan cream cheese

1 cup creamy peanut butter

½ cup powdered sugar

Chocolate Fudge Topping

2 cups dairy-free chocolate chips

2 tablespoons Earth Balance Coconut Spread (or coconut oil)

2 - 3 tablespoons soy milk

Instructions

Prepare a 9" square cake pan by using non-dairy margarine to grease bottom and sides.

Combine corn syrup, white, and brown sugar in a large sauce pan and cover over low to medium heat for several minutes until the mixture becomes smooth. Remove from heat and add the peanut butter and cocoa and stir until combined.

Pour in the rice crispy cereal and stir until the rice crispies are evenly coated.

Pour the coated rice crispy mixture into your prepared pan and spread it around some. You can use your fingers or the greased back of a spoon to press this into the bottom of the pan.

In a microwave-safe bowl combine the vegan cream cheese and peanut butter. Heat for about 30 seconds and stir to combine. Add the powdered sugar and stir until combined. Spread this over the chocolate peanut butter rice crispy layer.

Next combine the chocolate chips and Earth Balance spread (or coconut oil) in a microwave safe bowl. Stir to ensure the chocolate chips are coated and then heat for about a minute. Stir and heat for about 30 seconds until the chocolate chips are melted. Add the soy milk, one tablespoon at a time, stirring in between until you get the desired spreadable consistency. Spread the chocolate fudge topping over the peanut butter layer.

Cover and place the pan in the fridge where you can stand nearby for an hour and waiting for it to set. Trust me, it's worth the wait!

Marly

I agree it’s even better! I used to love rice crispy treats too. It’s surprising to think they’re not even vegetarian, let alone vegan! People look at me like I’m from another planet when I say that. Well, they look at me like that a lot, but that’s beside the point. So glad you like the recipe!

Jovana

Marly

Hi Jovana. I have an idea for you, but first you have to promise not to laugh.

Here’s the deal. I used the vegan cream cheese to give me a creamy, sweet peanut butter spread. One of my favorite things to create creamy spreads is…chickpeas. Can you believe it? I frequently will whip up a can of chickpeas to use in a recipes that might call for tofu or something like that. I feel like the chickpeas are healthier, cheaper, and I just like the way they sound. Chickpeas. Kinda cute, don’t you think?

Anyway, I have frequently made my own chickpea/peanut butter spread. I should post about that I guess! Rinse a can of chickpeas and place them in a food processor or blender. Add at least 1 cup (maybe even two) of peanut butter. You need enough peanut butter to overshadow the taste of the chickpeas. I add about 1/4 – 1/2 cup of agave nectar or some other kind of sweet syrup. You could probably use powdered sugar here if you don’t mind using sugar. You may need to add a little bit of water to thin out the mixture. Process this for a bit until it’s nice and smooth. Here’s the fun part – take a little taste or two to make sure it meets your needs. It should be slightly sweet and you should taste the peanut butter over the chickpeas. I love this stuff. So tasty!

The thing is, this will make more than you’ll need for the rice crispy treats. You could have a thicker layer of the peanut butter spread over the rice crispy treats. That sounds yummy! And you can use the leftovers in many fun ways. I like to use this when making recipes that call for peanut butter. It is so delicious, you can even serve it as a creamy, sweet dip at your next party. You could have animal crackers or even pretzels on the side for dipping. Ahh, the possibilities are endless.

Jovana

That works perfectly! Thank you so much. I’m going to try it out and let you know tomorrow or Wednesday.

I want to make these bars so badly.

Peanut butter + chocolate + rice crispies seems to be a match made in heaven.

The chickpea idea seems like a PERFECT idea. Can’t wait! Thank you SO SO MUCH Often when I read vegan blogs I don’t get a response on substitutes – which can be frustrating because I live in SA where vegans are not really catered for.

betty hatfield

Marly

We ate them so quickly that we didn’t need to worry about refrigeration. If you think it will take you longer than a few days to get through them, you might want to refrigerate them. But I’d probably let them sit to get to room temperature before eating them – otherwise they might be difficult to chew!

Saffron

Cathy

Marly

Any dairy-free margarine should work just fine. You could probably even use vegetable oil. In fact, if you didn’t want to do that, you could just add little more soy (or other dairy-free) milk. Your chocolate will set on the creamy side but it should still taste just as good!

Marly

Oh my lord. I know I’m a little late to the party on this one, but I need this in my life, like, now. They remind me of something my grandma used to make (but far from vegan). My step-daughter was walking behind me while I was looking at this, and she stopped in her tracks when she saw the pictures. Then she asked when we’re having them, lol. Can’t wait to try them! Thank you!

Marly

Hi Kristy – I can’t wait for you to try them and then let me know how it goes! I love things that remind me of meals with my family. That reminds me, I think there might be a big family meal coming this weekend! Yeah!

Della

In the first part of the directions, in step 4, it says to coat the crisps in the chocolate peanut butter coating. Is there a missing ingredient to the first section of mixing? I don’t see that there’s chocolate in that part of the recipe. I made it as stated so we’ll see how it turns out tomorrow!:)

Marly

Hi Della! Thanks for pointing that out. I realized based on your comment that I forgot to include the cocoa in the first part of the recipe. It’s optional and would taste fine either way. I just happened to like the idea of a chocolate peanut buttery spread. I hope you enjoyed the bars!

gretchen

Made these the other night and oh my dear lord. Did a double batch, here were my swaps:
-used brown rice syrup instead of corn syrup
-didn’t use the cream cheese layer
-only did a single batch of the chocolate, but did dark chocolate and salted it

Everyone who has been freaking out at how amazing they are. If I had put in the cream cheese layer, our heads might have exploded! Thank you for the recipe!

Dana

Hi there, these look absolutely amazing and I love your photos. I am trying to avoid peanut butter, do you think almond butter or cashew butter would work well in these? I know cashew butter works perfectly as a substitute in PB cookies, even better than Almond butter so that might be better. Looking forward to trying these, thanks for the recipe!

Marly

Hi Dana. I’ve never tried anything but peanut butter with these, but I can imagine cashew butter and it sounds fantastic. What about hazelnut butter? I mean, how can you go wrong with hazelnut and chocolate? OK. Well, anything with chocolate really works here so let me know if you try it and how it goes!